Flatmate wanted - for theft

By TONY WALL

She was a single white female looking for a trustworthy flatmate.

But Paula Molloy's efforts to find someone to fill an empty bedroom left her with an empty house after her choice turned out to be a con man.

He stripped her home almost bare, leaving Ms Molloy, 33, with a bitter first taste of flatmate-hunting.

The incident has shades of the movie Single White Female, in which a woman is preyed upon by her new flatmate.

Ms Molloy's troubles began when she advertised in Trade and Exchange for people to share her Birkenhead home. She had recently bought the two-bedroom unit after separating from her husband.

The first three callers were unsuitable. The fourth, a well-spoken male, seemed good and she invited him for an interview last Thursday.

She immediately hit it off with the well-groomed man in his 30s, who gave his name as Manuel Richards.

He said he had arrived from Wellington three weeks earlier, after getting a promotion to export administrator at the Ports of Auckland.

He claimed to have been staying in a motel in Newmarket.

He returned in the morning with some suitcases, and she gave him a set of keys before leaving for her job as an accountant. He promised to pay the rent and bond that night.

During the day, the man called her at work. "He asked if I'd be home for dinner and what time."

Ms Molloy arrived home later to find the ranchslider door open.

As she went through her flat, she found that more than $20,000 of property had been stolen, and her new flatmate was nowhere to be seen.

Neighbours had seen him moving property to his car, but thought nothing of it because he had introduced himself and said he was moving in.

The man took Christmas presents, a computer, a video recorder, a digital video camera, kitchen equipment including cutlery, CDs, expensive jewellery, bedding, towels and clothing. He even emptied the fridge and freezer.

In hindsight, Ms Molloy realises that the man's behaviour the previous night was strange.

"He had a big walk around and even wanted to look down the side of the house. And he yanked the chain on the back door twice - he was obviously casing the place out."

Ms Molloy feels stupid, and wishes she had vetted the man properly. She is now in a dispute with her insurance company as her policy does not cover theft by someone living in her home.

The thief is described as a Maori aged about 34, about 1.75m tall, of medium build. He has a tattoo of an eagle on his arm and a missing front tooth.

Senior Constable Tony Lindsay, of the North Shore scenes of crime unit, said the incident highlighted the need for people to vet flatmates.

"There are all sorts of weird and wonderful people out there. If it was me, and especially if I was female, I would want references and referees."